Why parents don't want their children to become horticulturists

Why are more young people not going directly from high school into horticultural training?

Often the problem is their parents, says David Davidson, associate dean of the School of Horticulture at Kwantlen Polytechnic University in Langley.

“Parents have this negative view of a landscaper as a person with a beaten-up truck and a lawn mower, someone unskilled.

“They don’t see the job as a very good prospect for their son or daughter. Even though the vast majority of high school students will not go to university, parents still hold on to the expectation that they will.

“If parents don’t see a degree at the end of a program, they are not very keen to give their support.

“When they think of horticulture, they always think of the bottom-end of the salary structure.

“But in reality, you will find that the top superintendent of a golf course in Canada makes $250,000 a year and someone running a reasonably successful landscaping business can earn $80,000 a year.”

Most of the students who enrol at the school of horticulture are young adults who have already been working in the industry for a few years and realize they need to get more qualifications to advance in their career, he says.

For others, it is about changing careers. These are mostly people in their 30s or older who would like to put their energy into a job that is more satisfying.

Davidson says the problem facing young people considering a career in horticulture is that for a long time, it was a profession without clear credentials, such as diplomas and certificates. This separated landscapers, for example, from plumbers or electricians.

“At one time, anyone could claim to be a horticulturist and not have any training. You could just have a pickup and a wheelbarrow and call yourself a horticultural professional. That has changed,” Davidson says.

“We have seen an increased demand from employers for people with diplomas and apprenticeship qualifications, particularly on the landscaping side.”

Davidson says educated and well-trained horticulturists will be in even more demand in the future as the management of green spaces becomes more sophisticated and complicated.

Bill Hardy, general manager of Northwest Landscape and Stone Supply in Burnaby and director on the board of the Canadian Nursery Landscape Association, says the landscaping industry has suffered for years because of the lack of professional certification.

“It is a problem unique to North America. Landscaping is considered a skilled trade in Europe. They have always had apprenticeship in the U.K. with a high-level of training.”

The fact that landscaping has finally been made a “Red Seal” trade — establishing a level of excellence that is recognized across the country — is a major step forward that can only improve public perception.

“The challenge now is to change public perception. Unfortunately, marketing campaigns cost a lot of money, so it will take time to get across the idea that a true landscaper is an educated, well-trained professional with a certificate or diploma to prove it,” says Hardy.